From Distributaries

Comienza con la calabaza: It Begins with the Squash

Name: Comienza con la calabaza: It Begins with the Squash
SKU: 34048
Availability: InStock

$25.00

Las hermanas de la milpa: comienza con la calabaza / The Sisters of the Milpa: It Begins with the Squash is the first volume of bilingual and indigenous (Mixteco) cookbooks “Sisters of the Milpa” by chef Natalia Mendez of La Morada restaurant.

Like other initiatives devised by La Morada Restaurant, this book seeks to disseminate indigenous knowledges and practices, and at the same time to conceptualize and expand the ways of doing mutual aid. Chef Natalia shares eight Oaxacan recipes that use all the parts of the squash plant, in different stages; teaches us, readers, how to take care of the soil; and also gives tips to grow food at home!

In the words of Professor Ángeles Donoso Macaya, who assisted with the transcription, edition, and translation of the texts, Las hermanas de la milpa / The Sisters of the Milpa “is the embodied memory, in narrative form, of the chef of one of the most important mutual aid hubs that emerged during the pandemic in NYC (and perhaps the only one that still continues to operate as such), and an eloquent document of the ongoing struggle for food sovereignty led by migrant indigenous communities.”

Author and Chef Natalia Mendez of La Morada restaurant. Photo by Camila Falquez.

The book is also, in and of itself, an art project: it includes illustrations by poet, artist, and activist Marco Saavedra, photos by photographer Camila Falquez, and has been beautifully designed by Lucky Risograph Press.

Authors + Book’s Concept: Natalia Méndez + Carolina Saavedra

Transcription, edition and translation: Ángeles Donoso Macaya

Art: Marco Saavedra

Photography: Camila Falquez

Design: lucky risograph / Amanda Chung

Printing: lucky risograph / Charlie Waltz-Rieber + Christopher Lucero

48 pp, Riso edition, printed in 100% post-consumer recycled paper
Dimensions: 5 inches by 8 inches

First edition: Fall 2022
Second edition: Spring 2023

Example recipe from the book.

Photo by Camila Falquez.

Ángeles Donoso Macaya with Chef Natalia Mendez of La Morada restaurant.

Author and chef Natalia Mendez of La Morada restaurant.

Photo by Angeles Donoso.

Interior shot from It Begins with the Squash.

Interior shot by Ángeles Donoso Macaya.

The Sisters of the Milpa: It Begins with the Squash is volume 1 of a 3-set series. We are using the proceeds to fundraise the production of an expanded single edition—with more photos, more art, and accompanying texts from the project’s collaborators.

To learn more about the other two books in the series and purchase them, please click on the following links: Volume 2: Longing for the Corn+ Volume 3: The Book of Beans.

Read about CUNY student cookbook projects that were inspired by The Sisters of the Milpa series here.
The Sisters of the Milpa is a project of the Archives in Common public seminar by Ángeles Donoso Macaya in collaboration with La Morada Restaurant.